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There was a guy in the crowd at the Kevin Devine show at Industry City on Friday who was wearing a “STILL EMO” t-shirt. If by “Emo” we mean an artist who writes candidly about politics, chemical abuse, interpersonal struggles and triumphs, and love, then yeah I guess Devine’s music is technically “Emo”. But as we’ve witnessed in following this superb artist and person for a decade, Kevin Devine is a uniquely honest and passionate performer who makes his audience believe, and rightfully so, that’s he in it with us.

Industry City is essentially a series of re-purposed factories that now house a complex of shops, restaurants, bars, retail stores and offices. In the center is a huge courtyard where Bell House has chosen to host its first annual Summer concert series. This was our first visit to Industry City and we were quite impressed. The setting provided a relaxed vibe and pleasant surroundings for enjoying an early evening Summer concert from one of our favorite artists.

Kevin Devine was joined by two members of the Goddamn Band for this show and the three were in sync all night. Devine released his 9th and most recent studio album Instigator in 2016, but on this night he chose democratically from his deep catalog to provide a lengthy set of material that both opened and closed with Kevin playing intense solo numbers, the apt “Brooklyn Boy” to open and personal favorite “Ballgame” to close. As per usual, there was ample banter with the crowd including multiple references to this being the closest the artist has ever played to his home in Sunset Park. Perhaps buoyed by the surroundings or the fact that there hasn’t been a full Goddamn Band show in New York for quite some time, the trio delivered a memorable night of music that clearly made the fans wish for more of these perfect nights.

I recorded this set with the outdoor-friendly Neumann large diaphragm cards mounted at the soundboard. While the audio was not enhanced by the stage being in-between two large brick buildings, the excellent FOH work by Rob certainly made the “room” work well. The mics were mixed with a well-balanced feed to create an excellent mix and the result is a superb recording. Enjoy!

We always knew Kevin Devine was one of the nicest guys around — what I didn’t know was how ubiquitous is that opinion. Kevin’s current project is the Devinyls Splits, a six-volume series released in semi-monthly intervals by Bad Timing Records where Devine pairs with another performer on a double-sided 7″. The roster of artists who have joined in this project is both impressive and eclectic — from indie-vet Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) to new punk frontperson Meredith Graves (Perfect Pussy) to neo-folk hero Mike Kinsella (Owen). Kevin’s ability to attract such a variety of artists is admirable, but it was astounding that when he planned a tour for the series and invited all six of the artists — every single one of them agreed to play the three-show run. The opening night of the tour was Friday at Bell House and if the Kevin Devine three-album show from a few years ago (recording here) was a wealth of riches, this year’s event was even more fan-friendly. In the end, the show featured two lengthy sets that lasted over four hours, offered seven guests including mini-sets from Laura Stevenson, Tigers Jaw, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Owen, and Matthew Caws, many collaborations between the artists, some neat covers, and interspersed within it all, twenty-four Kevin Devine (either solo or with The Goddamn Band) performances. But somehow the night never seemed to lose any momentum despite many stage changes. Ultimately, it was Kevin at the center of it all, and as his fans intrinsically trust him, on this night he and his friends delivered in spades.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps cardioids clamped to the front rail of the soundboard and blended with a superbly mixed soundboard by Bell House FOH Dave. The sound quality is quite excellent. Enjoy!

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Kevin Devine, visit his website, Support the Guest Artists at this show, and purchase the Devinyls Splits Series from Bad Timing Records [HERE].

These days, Kevin Devine is the worst kept secret in pop music. For the first ten years of his career, Kevin was one of those performers who felt like he was yours alone — until you’d come to his shows and finding that you were hardly his only rabid fan. The front rows of Kevin’s shows are always filled with the kind of fans who know every single word to every song and buy tickets whenever he’s in town. Or, as the girl who yelled out a compliment about the Washington DC show on this tour, whenever he’s in any town. At Webster Hall on Friday night, it was the hometown show of a lengthy tour that’s brought Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band across the country. Ostensibly to promote Bubblegum, the “rock” album of his dual album release (along with Bulldozer) that was fully funded in less than one day on Kickstarter, this tour has been a victory lap of sorts. Bubblegum and Bulldozer aren’t just new albums to support on a tour — they were at first affirmative proof that an artist of tremendous talent with an extremely dedicated underground fanbase could break free from the label trap and forge his own path on his own terms. But more than that, these two albums are superior works of art. Bubblegum on display at Webster is the full-band album that rocks from start to finish. There isn’t a weak track on the album, quite inapposite every track is a scorcher. If some of the larger music sites on the web haven’t yet caught onto these simple facts, its a credit to Paste Magazine, who reviewed Bubblegum with a 8.9 rating. At Webster on Friday, after the classic “Cotton Crush” opener, the band ripped through the first three tracks of the album in order and didn’t really come up for air throughout the entire hour-long main set. The encore set was a bit of a goof, with the band playing portions of a bunch of rock classics, before Kevin ended the show with a couple of solo songs. We’re streaming “Ballgame” which has closed each of the shows on this tour. This is Kevin’s early confessional song but at this point in his career maturity, it seems to be less about him and more about us and our obsessions with the current flavor-of-the-month. For the last few years, Kevin has added a verse for the live version of “Ballgame” which seems to be an evolving set of lyrics. The new last section was the most poignant — “wake up, cause you’re not done. You can fix yourselves up kids, and you can learn how to love, the way you’ve wanted to love someone besides yourself for once, and mean something for more than six months. There’s work to be done”. And that’s how the show ended. Kevin Devine will return in the Spring with a tour to support Bulldozer, and we’ll expect a little bit of a different format, but undoubtedly the same commitment and intensity.

I recorded this show with the Sennheiser cards mounted inside the sub-balcony of the soundboard booth and mixed with a board feed. There was a problematic microphone on one of the drums heads that caused some static in the middle of the show and can be heard at points. With that caveat, enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Kevin Devine, visit his website, and purchase Bulldozer and Bubblegum from the Merch link at his website [HERE].

He’s been recording albums for more than ten years, and Kevin Devine decided to have a party to celebrate. And what a party it was, as Kevin came bearing gifts in the form of three of his albums played straight through in three sets at Webster Hall on Saturday last. He performed his first album Circle Gets The Square as a solo acoustic set, and mixed in one new Sandy-inspired song. The final two sets and the encores were played with two different version of the band, as set two consisted of the latest album Between the Concrete and Clouds with a stripped down God Damn Band, and the final set of Split the Country, Split the Street (and encores) with a full version of the band. This was an ambitious undertaking, but in the end it proved that Kevin and the God Damn Band were up to the task. Overall, the night saw the performance of thirty-eight separate songs in close to three full hours of music — a marathon of sorts, but also a full-scale celebration of the career thus far of one of indie-pop’s great songwriters and perhaps one of its most under-appreciated ones at that. The result was one of the best shows we saw all year.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser cards mounted in front of the soundboard in the balcony and mixed with a superb soundboard feed. For the first set, I did not fully reset my levels after a high-volume soundcheck, so that Kevin’s quiet set has low levels on the master that had to be boosted, leading to some ambient noise. For the second set, everything was dialed in perfectly and the sound is superb. Finally, the rowdiness of the now-drunk crowd is maybe a bit too apparent in the third set, which sounds excellent but has quite a bit of shouting, even with the board feed boosted. With those caveats, enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Kevin Devine, visit his website, and purchase Between the Concrete and Clouds from Razor and Tie Records [HERE].

It almost unfathomable, considering the many many shows we’ve attended over the last decade, that we had not previously crossed paths with Kevin Devine. His abundant vocal and songwriting talents, and the picture perfect nature of his intelligent indie-pop records are exactly what we look for in a performer. So when we finally got the chance to catch Kevin at Maxwell’s on Saturday, the entire show felt completely natural. And when we met and chatted with Kevin after the show, he seemed like a kindred spirit. The songs themselves make it obvious that we are listening to a writer with vision, emotion and fortitude — dealing with life’s difficulties while persistently finding the beauty in it all. On Saturday, Kevin performed solo acoustic and while surrounded by diehard fans in an intimate venue, and delivered a powerful set that included much of his new album Between the Concrete & Clouds (Razor & Tie), but also dug deep into his catalog including classics “Cotton Crush”, “Tap Dance” and “Ballgame” (streaming below). Kevin even included a song from his old band Miracle of ’86 (“Knife”), and two new songs. Kevin Devine will be touring Europe in February, and will be back in the US for some Midwest dates in March, but promised some East coast dates in the Spring.

Stream “Ballgame”:

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Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Kevin Devine, visit his website, and purchase Between the Concrete and Clouds from Razor and Tie Records [HERE].

Caveat: Below is the updated schedule. We expect to attend and record these events. However, circumstances will prevent some of these from being done, and others will be added in the meantime. Feel free to make suggestions or point out shows we missed or invite us to your shows!

This is a rejuvenation of the lists we used to do in the early days of the site. We now have all years updated on the site, 2007-2015, which means that every recording in our history is only two clicks away. Again, don’t take this as an invitation to download massive quantities of recordings. If I find someone downloading 10 or 20 shows at once, I’ll block your IP address.

This is a rejuvenation of the lists we used to do in the early days of the site. I’m trying to get every year up in this category, and when 2015 goes up in January it will complete a full listing of the entire NYCTaper archives and make available every recording in our history only two clicks away. Again, don’t take this as an invitation to download massive quantities of recordings. If I find someone downloading 10 or 20 shows at once, I’ll block your IP address.

With the close of another hectic CMJ, its time to update the Schedule for the remainder of 2015 and into early 2016. Our journey continues with some old friends, some new and some nice surprises.

Caveat: Below is the updated schedule. We expect to attend and record these events. However, circumstances will prevent some of these from being done, and others will be added in the meantime. Feel free to make suggestions or point out shows we missed or invite us to your shows!

A few months ago, we compiled the list of 2014 Recordings, and here is the previous year. This is a rejuvenation of the lists we used to do in the early days of the site. Again, don’t take this as an invitation to download massive quantities of recordings. If I find someone downloading 10 or 20 shows at once, I’ll block your IP address.

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